An optical system that includes at least two optical emitters and/or optical receivers that have a corresponding guided-mode grating resonant reflector filter (GMGRF). Each GMGRF is preferably tuned to a unique wavelength and/or polarization by adjusting selected GMGRF parameters, such as the grating period and/or the thickness of the grating or other layers. One advantage of this construction is that the various optical emitters and/or optical receivers may be finely tuned, often lithographically, to provide fine wavelength resolution and/or polarization control. For WDM and WDD applications, this may allow closely-spaced optical transmission channels, and may simplify the wavelength-selective WDM and WDD operations required for simultaneous transmission of the channels.